From the New York Times bestselling author of GARDEN SPELLS comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves... It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store. Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies.

Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has. Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke? When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost. Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.

Much to my delight, I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, St Martin’s Press, via NetGalley.com. I tried hard not to reveal any important details but it’s so hard to talk about this book without spilling beans.

I first discovered Sarah Addison Allen by accident. The Girl Who Chased the Moon was a freebie on Amazon. It looked like an easy read and at the time, anything free was good for me, I grabbed it up and started reading… and I just couldn’t stop. Magical, whimsical, light and delightful, my fingers just kept turning pages. I got to the end and I thought, “Well that was nice.” As is my habit when I find an author whose style I adore, I sought out her backlist and she quickly jumped onto my my AUTO ADD, MUST READ lists.

I’ve read every novel that Ms Allen has published and I feel like each is better than the last. All of her books have the slightest bit of magic, a touch of drama, but mostly center around warm and inviting southern towns and delectable food. To read an Allen novel is to get lost in rustic, friendly North Carolina for about four hours. I look forward to the trip every year.

One of the recurrent themes in Allen’s books is friendship and family. We first met the Waverleys in Garden Spells, one of my favorite Allen novels (though I say that about all of them). Returning to Bascom, North Carolina and the sisters Claire and Sydney feel like having a sit d0wn with a couple of old friends– catching up, meeting the new people in their lives. This story centers around Bay Waverley, Sydney’s daughter, who is so much unlike her mother (and so much like her aunt Claire) that Sydney sometimes wonders if the child is really hers. After fleeing an abusive husband and returning to Bascom, Sydney married the love of her life, childhood friend Henry. He adopted Bay, and they’re one big happy family, except for one thing. She wants to give Henry a son.

Claire has always been self sufficient, the rock that other Waverly’s hold onto. Her catering business has fallen by the wayside in favor of magical Waverly candies. There’s a line that says something really profound, that Claire making candies is like like having the most perfect chair in the most perfect room, but the chair being covered in the wrong fabric– it’s such a small detail that no one really seems to notice. Except Claire. She’s not completely happy, making candy all day and she worries about her daughter Moriah, who doesn’t seem to display any signs of the Waverly trait. She doesn’t have a gift.

Lingering over the Waverly women is the distant memory of Lorelei, their wayward and wild mother who left them with their Grandmother Mary, never to be seen again. There’s a legend that she ate an apple from the magical Waverly tree (Waverleys don’t ever eat the apples) and when you eat the apples from the tree, you see the biggest event in your life. Even if that event is your death.

Despite the magic and the gifts, Claire has always questioned whether she was authentically a Waverley– her business and her livelihood depend on her heritage. When a curious man is seen lurking about the house, appearing and disappearing at whim, he brings with him questions and suspicions about Lorelei and Claire. What if Claire wasn’t Lorelei’s child’? What if everything Claire has ever known about her life is a lie? What if she isn’t really a Waverly? And what about the notebooks that Grandmother Mary hid around the house, the ones with the blacked out entries? Are there answers hidden in them? What does it all mean?

Woven into this story of family relationships is a budding romance between Bay Waverley and a popular soccer player named Josh. It’s heart warming and cute to watch Bay in all her teenage awkwardness become close with a young man who knows more about himself than most young men do. Bay’s gift is knowing where people belong. Bay knows where she belongs… if only she can convince Josh of the same.

I find myself longing for another installment of this magical family. The tree (and the house) has so much personality, it’s probably my favorite character. And I feel like there is more story to tell. Like Evanelle… what did M mean by telling her not to be in such a hurry to go, there’s more work to be done? Sydney’s relationship with Victoria took a bit of a predictable turn, but I feel like there is more there? Josh and Bay– do they end up together? Buster and Fred– come on, isn’t there a niggle of attraction? And Moriah, who finally displays a gift.. surely, Ms. Allen, there’s another Waverley tale inside you!

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Hello!

Welcome to The Sweet Escape, home of Author DL White. I blog about my adventures as a Romance and Women’s Fiction reader and writer. My work has appeared at IndieInk.org, Short-Story.net and Storyfix.com.

I enjoy reading (lots and lots of reading) writing, candy, Sprite, and things flavored with raspberry… but not raspberries themselves. I hope you’ll drop by often and share in the joy (uh huh) of writing! Enjoy your stay!